10:832:356 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: The Injury, Net Impact, Independent Community And Health Concern
9 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Lecture #6: Public Health and Tort Law: Policy Making by the Courts
I. Tort Law Defined
• One person or group must pay compensation for wrongs to another (p.205).
• You can sue under several tort theories:
• Intentional torts (assault, battery, defamation, etc.).
• Negligence.
• Must prove:
• A duty of care.
• Example: Pushing a shopping cart, and your duty is not to let it go and harm
someone.
• Example: Doctor’s duty to care for patient, and NOT leave cellphone in patient.
• A breach of that duty.
• Not doing the duty.
• Example: Pushing a shopping cart while on your phone.
• Example: Doctor leaves cellphone inside of patient during surgery.
• A harm.
• Example: Car has streak because of shopping cart.
• Example: For many reasons this is harmful.
• Proximate cause.
• But for the actions of A, B would not have been injured.
• The injury to B was foreseeable.
•NOT:
• Contract law.
• Criminal law.
• Family/ matrimonial law.
II. Tort Litigation’s Effect on Public Health Policy
• Positives:
• Help insure safety and efficacy.
• Has potential to improve the public’s health.
• May prevent future bad acts by manufactures of dangerous products or the implementation
of anti-public health measures.
• Negatives:
• May hamper development and production.
• Antidemocratic because laws made by judges, not the legislature.
• Financially benefits only a few plaintiffs and lawyers.
• May increase costs to consumers.
• Class Action- By themselves do not have a power to sue. As a group, they do have a power to
sue.
III. Public Health Tort Litigation
• One of the tools in the public health toolbox.
Page !1
